[avatar user=”Mosh” size=”50″ align=”left” /]Just beating the release date on this huge collection of tracks, Dreams of Horror is released on November 10th through Metal Blade.
King Diamond is a legend in the metal world. Somewhat mental, just a touch controversial and utterly unapologetic, he’s been kicking around for donkey’s years – thirty actually – spreading the metal word. This release is to celebrate that anniversary.
Formed in 1985, the band has undergone a few lineup changes over the years but has never split up or gone on hiatus as other have done over similar periods. Instead they’ve cranked out album after album, and pretty sure there are samples from all of them – picked out by KD his royal self – across this release.
It’s 2-disc collection divided between “The Roadrunner Years” and “The Metal Blade Years”, the two labels which have released the entire back-catalogue between them.
So, what of the release? It’s a great choice of songs, not surprising given that it’s been the band’s own. It is close to mirroring their live set so they’re songs that would be ideal for the newcomer to the band to pick up. Recording quality is top notch and it’s interesting to start at the beginning and time-travel through thirty years of releases at an accelerated rate.
You’re unlikely to find a better representation of one of the most popular long-standing acts in the metal world. If there’s a downside, and it’s only a minor one, many of the band’s albums are concept pieces and lifting a song from the middle of one of these can reduce its impact or meaning somewhat. Having said that, it’s only a minor niggle and like complaining that WASP don’t play the entire Crimson Idol album from end to end live.
For the die-hard fan, there’s not really anything new here but for those wanting a sample of the band, it doesn’t get more comprehensive than this.
The track list is as follows:
DISC 1 – ROADRUNNER
- The Candle
- Dressed in White
- The Family Ghost
- Black Horsemen
- Welcome Home
- The Invisible Guests
- At the Graves
- Sleepless Nights
- Let It Be Done
- Eye of the Witch
- Insanity
DISC 2 – METAL BLADE
- Dreams
- The Spider’s Lullabye
- Waiting
- Heads on the Wall
- Voodoo
- Black Devil
- Help!!!
- Spirits
- The Puppet Master
- Blue Eyes
- Never Ending Hill
- Shapes of Black
